Every 5th of October is marked as the day for the teachers – World Teachers’ Day and the 2016 theme is titled ‘Valuing Teachers, Improving their Status.’ Teachers are next to parents in all ramifications, and if possible, they should be accorded the same respect and courtesy that parents get from their wards. The government and parents should also respect and honour teachers as not only do they play an important role in the lives of the children, but they also help in shaping the society. It is therefore not surprising that in countries like Finland and other such nations where education and teachers are highly-valued, the countries are more organised and developed, with a significantly better standard of living compared to countries that do not cherish their educational system.

Below is a graph showing the average remuneration of teachers in OECD member countries over a period of 15 years.

Note : The salary expressed on the Y-axis is in ‘000$

It is not surprising that Switzerland is regarded as one of the safest countries in the world. This simply shows that a nation is a reflection of how the teachers are treated.

African nations are particular culprits of not treating their teachers and almost neglecting the educational sector in totality. Most developing countries devote less than 10% of their total annual budget to the education sector. Nigeria for instance, which is by the way, the “giant of Africa” allocated just 6% of its budget to education, a sector that is meant to cater for the teeming Nigerian youths, with 3% of the budget going to the legislative arm of the government of just 405 persons, that has failed to make any significant law in over 15 years.

If you are still wondering why developing countries have remained “developing” over the years, then you should take a look at the way the teachers and the education sector has been treated over the years, and you are sure of getting answers to your questions.